Breeders' Cup Sprint: Asmussen loses little going to the bench
Trainer Steve Asmussen won’t have reigning champ Mitole back for the 2020 Breeders’ Cup Sprint. Nor will he have the horse who just a couple of months ago appeared to be the heir apparent to the throne, Grade 1 winner Volatile.
That being said, Asmussen will still have a pretty strong hand Nov. 7 at Keeneland when he attempts to win the Sprint again. Asmussen has pre-entered three horses for the race, including undefeated 3-year-olds Yaupon and Nashville.
A total of 17 horses were pre-entered for the six-furlong Sprint, with all but Japanese invader Pingxiang having the Sprint as first preference. The list includes five horses who earned a berth by winning a Breeders’ Cup Challenge race – Vekoma, C Z Rocket, Firenze Fire, Diamond Oops, and Collusion Illusion.
The most intriguing horse of all is Nashville, who has won his only two starts by a combined 21 1/4 lengths, including a six-furlong allowance race at Keeneland by 9 3/4 lengths in 1:09.10. That clocking was .14 of a second faster than Diamond Oops completed the same distance the previous afternoon to capture the Grade 2 Phoenix, and it earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 101 for Nashville.
Asmussen said Nashville is not certain to run in the Sprint.
“His two races could not have been any more impressive visually,” Asmussen said. “The question, of course, is who did he beat. But they were a long ways away at the end. He also ran [1:09], faster than the Phoenix went. Those are the only measurables that we have. The bottom line is we have an extremely talented horse, and that makes it very interesting. But if we pass this race, there will be other Grade 1’s in his future. Right now, there are still discussions to be had regarding his status for the race.”
Yaupon has won all four of his starts, including the Grade 2 Amsterdam over a muddy track at Saratoga and the Grade 3 Chick Lang at Pimlico.
“I feel Yaupon is Nashville with two more races in him,” Asmussen said. “He’s a very fast horse who does everything right. He goes fast and does it the right way.”
Echo Town is the third member of Team Asmussen for the Sprint and the most experienced of the lot. Echo Town won the Grade 1 Allen Jerkens at Saratoga from off the pace, a modus operandi that should serve him well in a speed-filled race like the Sprint. Asmussen said he will put blinkers on Echo Town for the first time following his third-place finish in the Phoenix.
“He’s battle tested, which is a plus in a race like the Sprint, where there is likely to be a full field and plenty of speed,” Asmussen said. “He is obviously very effective when he fires his shot and has trained exceptionally well at Keeneland. We are adding blinkers because I thought he lost a little concentration in the Phoenix, and still only got beat a couple of lengths.”
Volatile was the undisputed division leader who was retired due to a hairline fracture of the cannon bone in the days leading up to the Sept. 26 Vosburgh. He won 4 of 5 career starts, including the Grade 1 Vanderbilt at Saratoga and the Aristides at Churchill Downs.
“His performances in the Aristides and Vanderbilt left me wanting more,” said Asmussen when asked what might have been if he also had Volatile for the Sprint. “It just wasn’t to be.”